Western Virginia Water Authority Adopts New Data Management Solution

Innovyze, a producer of business analytics software and technologies for wet infrastructure, announced that Western Virginia Water Authority (WVWA) in Roanoke, Va., has implemented the Innovyze InfoNet and InfoNet Mobile solution across its enterprise. WVWA’s use of InfoNet to provide comprehensive data management and previously unrealized business intelligence to departments throughout the enterprise further strengthens the utility’s position among the most progressive in the country.
With more than 260 employees and 150,000 customers, WVWA, formed in 2004, is one of the largest water and wastewater providers in the State of Virginia. It provides service to the citizens and businesses in the city of Roanoke, Roanoke County and Franklin County, managing more than 1,000 miles of water lines, 900 miles of sewers, 4,000 fire hydrants and multiple storage tanks, pumping stations and treatment facilities.
“What initially started as a modeling tool quickly developed into an invaluable data management application across the organization,” said Jim O’Dowd, infrastructure asset manager for WVWA. “We have over twenty competent InfoNet users and ninety field technicians using InfoNet Mobile on a daily basis. Our InfoNet users include construction crew foremen, mapping technicians and engineers. The spatial nature of InfoNet, combined with the well-thought-out design of both the interface as well as the assets and work orders built for our industry, made the application easy to understand for all. We can now generate and update our all-mains models for InfoWorks CS and InfoWorks WS from the validated asset data from the InfoNet database within a few minutes.
“We used a ‘bottom-up’ implementation approach instead of a ‘top-down’ approach with InfoNet Mobile. We involved the field staff in the design of the field forms from the start and, because of its flexibility, we were able to tailor the system to their specific business processes. As a result, many field staff feel invested in the implementation and take pride in the data they provide. All assets and work orders are updated daily and sent to our Web ArcGIS allowing field staff to see their work and their asset corrections spatially the following day.
“Now that we have validated data from CCTV, manhole inspections, pipe repairs, flooding and blockage incidents in addition to modeling results, we are now in a position to better manage and operate our infrastructure and personnel,” O’Dowd said.
InfoNet is a purpose-built, out-of-the-box asset management and business intelligence system for water distribution, wastewater collection and storm water networks. It leverages advanced analysis and data validation tools to ensure informed, swift and cost-effective decision making, for both day-to-day management and long-term network planning. InfoNet enables water industry managers, engineers and planners to manage, integrate, validate, analyze and report on their network data. It delivers accurate, auditable up to-date information and easy-to-use reports on network infrastructure and performance. InfoNet and its companion field solution, InfoNet Mobile, can be integrated into many applications and data sets including Esri Geodatabase, generic GIS, corporate ERP, CMMS, field data systems, SCADA, hydraulic modeling analysis software and other corporate applications, to give managers a single clear picture of their network infrastructure for improved decision making.
InfoNet also lets engineers and managers analyze all aspects of the network life cycle. A robust query engine enables users to filter, sort and make complex selections related to their underground assets and related events or inspections based on virtually any criteria, while its geospatial environment lets them create thematic maps with flexible symbology and rich detail. A built-in report generator comes with dozens of standard reports plus the ability to quickly build custom reports and graphs against any piece of data stored in the system.